“A proposal is under consideration in the West Virginia House of Delegates right now to approve an omnibus education bill that was intended to expand education opportunity in the Mountain State, where barely 31 percent of students can read or do math proficiently.

“But rather than consider a bold proposal that would have allowed thousands of students to attend brand-new, innovative schools of choice, the legislature has bent to both ignorance and special interest pressure in moving forward a proposal that would help no one student get the education they deserve. The pending proposal would create only three schools, which would be micromanaged by the same bureaucracy that oversees under-performing traditional public education in the state.

“For more than 25 years CER has crafted, analyzed and reported on educational choice programs, and its indispensable guideto charter school laws makes clear that any law claiming to give people the opportunity to create charter schools but denies them the freedom to do so is a law in name only.

“Charter schools are tri-partisan, diversely supported and have successfully transformed public education across the country. Charters in cities like Washington, D.C. and Boston to name just two have outperformed traditional public schools but positively impacted their achievement, too.

“The purpose of charter schools is to allow parents and families to access diverse, more responsive, more individualized learning opportunities, of which there is clearly a shortage of in West Virginia, a state which has consistently ranked below the national average since 1996.

“Rather than be bold, the legislature is succumbing to pressure by those organizations and individuals that have failed West Virginia’s kids and families.
If any courage still exists, lawmakers in the House of Delegates will immediately pull the proposal and work to learn from the 44 other states and the District of Columbia who have enacted and experienced charter schools first hand.

We stand ready to assist.”